The Rose and the Beast
by xiMarionette
Summary: Because of her lineage, she contained the ability to bring people back from the dead for an exchange, of course. As a child, she unknowingly brought back a boy who ultimately deserved a second chance in life. KimimaroXOC.
1. A Child's Kiss

**The Rose and the Beast**

**Chapter 1: A Child's Kiss**

Pudgy small bodies ran around the feet of horses, giggling madly when the many drivers snapped at the children to quit their troublemaking. It only made them laugh harder and ran faster.

The caravan of merchants steadily traveled through the outskirts of Konohagakure. The line of wagons attached to horses was endless, going as far as needed for the whole group to continue forth. The merchants held no special bloodline, and no name worth mentioning. They were all ordinary people, civilians at most. And most didn't mind, they just existed to continue the trades between countries for valuables they called their own. And through this cycle, the trade has passed on from generation to generation, hoping that the future of their own blood would carry on this journey with the same people.

Lilting melodies of the children's laughter were the joy and pain to everybody over the age of sixteen. It was either too much, or too little, but either way the high-pitch giggles were making everybody's ears bleed.

The horses neighed again, pawing the air when the children came too close once more.

"Momiji-chan, I told you to never go near the horses while you're playing!" A gentle woman chided a small child, at the age of six at most, a finger waggling at the child's shamed colored face. "You'll get hurt!"

The child felt her cheeks flush from embarrassment when she noticed her other friends laughing and making faces behind her mother's back. Without thinking, Momiji frowned angrily before blowing a raspberry.

"Momiji-chan!"

Her mother grabbed her upper arm and swatted her behind.

"Okaa-san!" Momiji cried out, swinging about from her arm as she attempted to dodge the continuous attacks to her bottom. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Said mother frowned at her daughter's messy appearance. "Oh, look at you, you're dirty!" She crouched down to her daughter's level, fixing the crooked hat (which was bought from Suna). "This dress was expensive, Momiji-chan!" A hand started dusting the small yellow sundress decorated with tiny white flowers. Lucky enough, the mother was relief that she did not make Momiji put on the matching cute yellow shoes.

"Ok_aaaa_-s_aaaa_n," Momiji whined, jumping up and down. "I want to go play!"

"Just a second," her mother said, rearranging the yellow ribbon in her hair to catch all the brown stray strands of hair. "There we go." She tweaked her daughter's nose before advising her wisely, "Play safe and stop running near the horses."

"Hai!" The twerp chirped before running off.

Momiji panted in excitement, running along the length of the moving caravan to find her friends. She cleverly kept away from the horses as she ran through each wagon in search of familiar faces. When Momiji found the love of her life, a small squeal escaped from her lips before she darted to him.

"Kenji-kun!"

The eight-year-old turned to Momiji. Even though there was a grimace on his face from the overbearing hearts surrounding the small six-year-old. He even waved his hand around the air for good measure but it was impossible. The girl who he really liked was sniggering behind him.

"Look, Kenji-kun, there's your bride," his crush teased.

He scowled, narrowing those green eyes of his as the annoying six-year-old ran closer with a smile that challenged the sun.

"Kenji-kun!" Momiji blushed as soon as she drew near, coming to a complete stop. She was breathless, grinning foolishly up at the popular child of their group.

Momiji was irrefutably in love with him.

When he had rolled his eyes and turned away with her, it was no problem. She didn't mind at all. For an attractive boy to ignore a girl riding on cloud nine was completely fine. It was mechanically engineered in every female on the planet to scavenge for an excuse when a hot, uninterested boy shrugs off the sadly love sick puppy. And Momiji was no exception to this.

Giggling, she dutifully followed Kenji and Fujiko with a mad grin. Soon enough, more children followed the group.

The children laughed. The rules their parents placed over their heads were soon broken, and the children were running wild once more. Because they were in a wide grassy plain, the elders did not mind as much, allowing the children to tire themselves out quickly so they could look forward to a peaceful voyage. But it wasn't possible. As soon as the children's eyes fell upon an odd forest, they stopped and stared in awe.

It was a forest of bones.

As the caravan continued onwards with their journey, the children stopped and stared. They gazed up at the tallest of bones, approaching it cautiously despite their parent's warnings echoing in their little itty-bitty heads.

These titanic white things particularly took Momiji by surprise. She did not know what it was. A couple of her playmates mentioned at the possibility of bones, but she did not believe. Bones just can't be that big! Her violet eyes grew bigger with each step she takes, consuming the breathtaking view. Her small hand reached forward, skimming her unscarred hands against the rough texture.

"Hey, let's play!" One child screamed, and before anyone could stop him, he ran into the forest of bones.

Momiji watched apprehensively as one by one each child darted into the scary forest. She whimpered, clutching her sundress with her tiny fists.

A scrawny child crowed at the idea, waving at the small group of playmates after the disappearing child. "Come on, let's play tag!"

"Ah, Kenji-kun!" she cried out, watching as her childhood sweetheart ran in the obvious danger with a whoop of joy. Fujiko followed quickly after him.

"Come on, Momiji-chan!"

"Let's go!"

"I wanna play hide and seek!"

The little girl turned around, her eyes desperately searching for her mother. She wanted comfort; she wanted the arms of her mother around her. The choice to go into the forest was something she did not want to make. She wanted her mom to demand her presence, because if she didn't, most likely the other children would tease her of her fright.

"Come on, Momiji-chan!"

Momiji didn't want to go in the forest.

"Scardy cat, scardy cat!"

But Kenji-kun was there.

"Ahahaha, she's such a chicken!"

Closing her eyes tight, Momiji gave a small grunt of effort before darting in. She breathed hard, never opening her eyes as her scrawny legs moved one in front of the other. An image was summoned from the inside of her eyelids. Colors swirled, slowly morphing into a something…a face! It was Kenji and he was smiling gently at her.

Just as she was about to squeal his name, Momiji slammed into one of the bone thingys.

She bounced off the bone tree, falling onto the ground. Tears erupted in her eyes and a small whine growing in a crescendo was about to explode when she heard laughter.

Fujiko laughed, her perfectly straight teeth glowing. It entranced the other boys, in all her beauty. "Oh, Momiji-baka, why were you running with your eyes closed?"

Momiji hiccupped, rubbing off the tears streaming down her face as she weakly glared at Fujiko. "I'm not stupid! I…I-I had something in my eye!"

"Whatever, let's play," Kenji said, his monotone voice carrying off a hint of annoyance. "I'm getting bored."

Fujiko smirked. "Let's play hide and seek! Momiji's it!"

Before the violet-eyed child could rebuke at the unfairness, the children screeched and scattered like cockroaches. Momiji stood there, picking herself off from the ground and not bothering to dust herself off of the dirt clinging to her. Her watery eyes glanced around her, reddening nose sniffling in helplessness, as she was required to become the 'it' of this game.

Momiji little body shuddered. The sun shone down upon Earth. It was even strong enough to penetrate through the tall spine-like bones of this forest. Though there was light, Momiji couldn't shrug off this ominous feeling.

She walked slowly, gasping and coming to a stop as she heard quiet giggling and scurrying bodies.

"Kenji-kun?" The child called out, walking leisurely.

There was no answer.

A whine escaped from the child as her head looked from side to side.

"Fujiko-chan?"

Again, no answer.

Just when Momiji was about to drop on the floor and cry to her heart's content, her not so keen ears picked up on something. Her hair swirled around her shoulders as she turned to the left, catching bits of colors from the white bones and green grass. Not a gasp later, Momiji dashed towards the recognizable colors of clothes, and came to a stop when she saw the children gazing up at a specific towering rib bone.

Fujiko's eyes glittered with curiosity as she continued to stare up at the sky. "What is that?"

A small child whose face was splattered with freckles squinted his eyes. "It…it looks like a person!"

"It can't be a person, it's too still!"

Kenji frowned, circling around the tree-like bone. "I can see a face…"

"No way!" Fujiko glanced around the area. "I wonder if there's a way to get up there…" Her eyes caught an awkward staircase that was created from bones. "Is that safe?"

"There's only one way to find out!" Kenji, who has been thirsting for adventure and fun, literally ran to the bone staircase. He carefully put his foot on one bone and pushed his full weight upon it until he was satisfied that it would possess his weight. The grin Momiji loved so much spread across his face as he climbed the stairs like a monkey.

Fujiko then followed after him, determining it safe if the boy could pass safely.

Before the others can get a chance to run up, Momiji grunted and rushed up the stairs. If Fujiko can do it, than surely she could! The laughter of the other three kids echoed behind her as she continued to climb up.

The walk up was long and somewhat scary. There were times were Momiji was compelled to take a glance down and would regret it dearly. The climb up was not low; it was high. And when they had reached the top, Momiji could clearly see the caravan continuing on forth towards Konohagakure for their next trade. The line of their caravan was stretched out! It was something she had not realized before.

Momiji turned to look at Kenji and Fujiko. They had opted to hoping to a huge plane of floating sand like the adventurers they were.

"Is…is that safe?" she called out, warily staring at the floating sand.

Fujiko groaned under her breath. "Ugh, she's so annoying."

"You just noticed?" Kenji scoffed.

His crush merely rolled her eyes. "We should make her do something…" But before Fujiko could come up with something spectacular to humiliate the six-year-old brat, her eyes caught the human-like body they had seen from ground below. "Wooooah, look at that Kenji!"

Momiji frowned when she saw the two older kids running off the sand plane. Child-like jealousy hit her like a bullet, and it was that that made her jump on the sand plane despite the warning bells ringing in her head. She took off after Fujiko and Kenji, ignoring the cries of the other children, pleading for her to wait for them.

She didn't care about them.

She only cared about Kenji.

Her thoughts deteriorated as her run slowed to a complete stop four feet away from Kenji and Fujiko. Violet orbs took in the one thing that made her small heart palpitate faster.

There was a man, half a man, forming out of one of the bones. His body was limp, hanging off of the bone like a piece of accessory. On his right arm was a drill of innumerous bones, twisting maliciously and grotesquely that came to a pointed sharp end while the other arm was completely normal. His skin was grey, much like all the colorful paints mixed together in a single bowl.

Momiji started to whine in fear, which was immediately cut off by Fujiko's harsh glare.

Kenji studied the corpse, creeping closer for a better look. He took notice of the man's peaceful face, and noted the odd dots above the man's brow. The eight-year-old backed off before turning to the crowd of children behind Momiji. "He's dead…I think…"

Fujiko stood next to Kenji, peering at the man's face. "He's…look, he looks like he'd be around my oniichan's age."

"Your brother's sixteen, though!"

The girl shrugged. "I'm just guessing."

The group was quiet for a moment, staring at the unusual entity before them.

"What do we do now?" The freckled face child asked.

Kenji pursed his lips, scratching his head as he assessed the dead teenager. "I guess we can play tag up here." He jumped up and down, checking whether or not the sand plane would hold all the children.

"No," Fujiko grinned gleefully, a cruel idea entering her mind. "Let's play truth or dare."

The children oo'ed at her idea and cheered at the idea. They started off with small, simple things: whom do you like, I dare you to kiss her/him, is it true you wet the bed, what kind of underwear are you wearing, etc, etc. It was until they reached the sixth round did Fujiko get the chance to pick Momiji's dare.

"I dare you to kiss him."

Every small head swerved towards the direction Fujiko pointed at, gasping, laughing, and barfing at the sight of the dead man hanging there.

The blood escaped from Momiji's face as she croaked. "H-him?" she all but squeaked.

A Cheshire grin grew on Fujiko's face, showing sharp teeth and a demented mind by that smile. She nodded her head slowly before continuing. "On the lips."

"Ewwww!" The freckled boy yelled.

Momiji gulped audibly, ripping her eyes away from Fujiko to stare at the man. "I don't want to do it!"

"You have to!" Fujiko commanded.

"No!"

Momiji almost started crying at the prospect of kissing a dead person when Kenji managed to come to her rescue, or that's what she thought.

"Whatever, let's go. She's not gonna do it." Kenji stood from the small circle and made his way to the stairs to go back to the caravan. "Let's go, it's late anyways."

Fujiko didn't have a chance to complain before everyone followed the leader of their group. She rolled her eyes and scoffed at the sniffling child. "You're no fun, Momiji-baka, you're annoying. All you are is a pain in the ass!" With those last harsh words, Fujiko turned heel with a small 'hmph!' and pranced towards Kenji.

Momiji watched as all her childhood friends disappeared one by one chanting 'scardy cat'.

A cool breeze swept up, circling around her before going off into the direction of the north. She shivered, rubbing her hands up and down her arms as if the breeze had given her a chill. Though she knew she could be following the rest, Momiji didn't move. The strength to move had left her body as Fujiko's words reverberated in her head.

"I'm…not annoying," she whined.

Momiji peeked at the hanging man and quickly looked away.

_Scardy cat, scardy cat, she's nothing but a scardy cat!_

Anger flowed through her veins. She was irked at their name-callings, and she wanted to do something about it. Momiji even realized that Kenji did nothing to deny those claims or come to her rescue. It was as if he agreed with the other children.

But she's not! Momiji was not a scardy cat!

Momiji fully turned her body till she faced the man. She marched right up there and peered up at his face to see that this man didn't even look dead! Her eyes of wonder took in the fresh, young-looking face, and hair that seemed too perfect to be dead. If she didn't know any better (which she didn't), she would assume that he was alive! Momiji wasn't thinking when she reached up to touch his face.

It was then that she had realized she was too short to even reach him.

A draft once again flowed by her, but this time it carried something else to her.

Momiji spat out the hair of the man's as it drifted her way, brushing up against her opened mouth of awe. She screeched in disgust and walked backwards as she swatted at the white hair snaking towards her.

"Oof!" Momiji tripped over her feet and landed on her bum.

Her lovely eyes narrowed at the man and pointed at him. But before she had the chance to scream at him for his trickery of a hair, Momiji perked up at the sound of her mother calling her.

"Momiji-chan!"

"Uh, oh, okaasan is looking for me," Momiji chirped. She picked herself up from the ground and was about to dart off to her mother when she remembered about her dare. Gritting her teeth, Momiji ran up to the man, harshly pulled his hair down and landed a kiss upon the shockingly silky strands before taking off.

After the child disappeared, the body hovering over the forest of bones stayed the same.

Air wisped by, birds flew by, the sun lets all that's known know, and the bones of the forest stayed strong and tall.

The boy who had died at the age of fifteen had been there for less than a year, in an exposed solitary confinement. His body was preserved by usage of nourishments the bones connected to his body stole from the ground, using the earth's life force to conserve the exterior shell of the boy it served. This boy was to be dead, like a child's doll: a porcelain doll. But instead, it was given a second chance; a chance that not anyone was graciously given, especially by a child whose lineage and blood were unknowingly one of utmost importance.

Eight years, after that innocuous child's kiss, turquoise eyes opened to the world once again.

**New story C: Run away from reality.**


	2. A Survivor's Determination

**Chapter 2: A Survivor's Determination**

It had been a journey of recovery and self-realization.

Kimimaro stood over the small hill, his turquoise eyes overlooking the green pasture. The wind whipped up and blew past him, making strands of his hair sway about. The gentle cool of the breeze dried the sweat on his face. His heaving chest whistled with an unhealthy wheeze. Dark circles under his eyes told one and beyond that this young man had gone through suffrage and agonizing days for god knows how long. The muscles of his body begged for rest, which he had graciously given just a couple moments ago.

As the sole survivor of the Kaguya clan, Kimimaro had been alone since he was a child.

To be lonesome without the caring hand of another was something nobody should ever go through. Protection and security came hand in hand when in a family. Kimimaro didn't have that as a child when his clan was wiped out while viciously attacking Kirigakure. And though his family wasn't the best of means, it was still family.

It was the same with Orochimaru-sama.

He was family, rather a father figure in Kimimaro's eyes. Orochimaru had taken in Kimimaro as a child and used him to his extent when nobody else would come close.

The feeling of being needed by someone, anyone, was preciously irreplaceable. There was no greater feeling in the world than to be needed by someone; it was something Kimimaro greatly desired. And to be required by Orochimaru made that desire strive to serve and make his dreams (as corrupted and demeaning as they were) to come true.

His duty was to protect and serve.

Kimimaro had a sense of belonging. As Orochimaru's precious vessel (someone he gloated quietly over in the quietness of Orochimaru's lair), he had been the main importance in his eyes. When trained and ready, he had become the fifth member of Sound Four.

He had finally proven his meaningless existence.

And now it was viciously erased.

From the start of his wake, Kimimaro had roamed around the past four years searching and seeking for his master. The yearning need for Orochimaru nearly buckled the young man's spirit as it intensified with every passing second. And when Kimimaro had learned of Orochimaru's death, it crippled him.

The mention of the legendary sannin's death slaughtered the very existence of Kimimaro. The only man who had given him a second chance in life, who had fed, trained, and supported was now gone and never to return again. His chest concaved to a point where the heart lying within the cage of his ribs crushed beneath the invisible force of utter sadness. The wailing, broken sound of his voice, echoed through the night of realization that there was no one for him.

What did he live for now?

That question had relentlessly cycled in his mind.

And there was no answer to it.

The devastation of it disabled him from participating in anything of his surroundings. In different villages there were hunter-nins who discovered about his existence and fought to kill or capture. The first wave of attack had him wanting to surrender and follow his master into the other world. But the thought of carelessly throwing his life away, his life that was so carefully looked after and trained by Orochimaru-sama, peeved him. And so he fought, killing the men and women who attempted to take the only source of connection to Orochimaru.

But when it came to food and shelter, he neglected himself of it.

In some way, it was a sort of punishment. He disciplined himself from not being a strong enough vessel for his magnanimous lord. Had he still been alive, his master would've roved the earth.

Kimimaro would've still been important in this worthless world.

And though as hard as he tried to remove himself from this trivial world, Kimimaro found that he couldn't.

There was something out there, something out there to live for though he knew not what it was. He felt within the depth of his chest, something pulling forth towards Konohagakure. The connection was significant, strong and bold.

He hadn't felt it before. It wasn't until he reached his homeland (to obtain some sort of identity from his murdered clan) that he felt a small connection, a thin unnoticeable string really, tug him weakly towards Konohagakure.

And as he travelled towards the village, he realized it was growing sturdy and well built with each step. As it grew strong, so did his innocuous curiosity.

Kimimaro sighed and wiped the back of his hand across his beading forehead. The journey had been hard, but in an odd sense it was a journey of healing. There was no explanation to it. Kimimaro tried to delve within himself to discover what had made his soul thrive for living.

He needed to find out what it was here for him.

Kimimaro stood from his sitting place, dusting his bottom from the clinging grass. His eyes glanced down and stared fondly at the white flowers budding from the ground.

Turning his attention away from it, his eyes turned to stare at the enormous gates of Konohagakure.

It was time for discovery.

"_I'm so sorry!"_

Yamanaka Ino stood there with her arms crossed over her bountiful chest and foot tapping the floor of the flower shop with a slowness that only defined as the intent to kill. Her sea-foam eyes burned; lip twitching with annoyance as she stared murderously at the girl bowing at her repetitiously with apologies spewing from her mouth. "Momiji-chan, what did I say about the importance of time?"

Yikes! Ever since the woman had gotten pregnant, she'd been more ruthless than before.

Momiji laughed nervously, scratching the back of her head. "You said-"

"That's fucking right! _I _said every worker has to be on time, god dammit! What time is it?" Ino yelled.

Momiji's lavender eyes darted to the clock over the exit of the flower shop. The temptation to run for her life was great, but the knowledge of having an ex-ninja running after her completely diminished the thought. "…Three…forty?"

And suddenly, with those words, the strong bold woman broke down. "And I can't even fit in my wedding dress!" Ino sobbed.

Aw, shit. She did not need this.

"Ah, Ino-san, why don't-"

"It's Ino-_chan,_ brat! I'm not that fucking old!"

Momiji cleared her throat. "Um…Ino…chan…why don't you head on home? I'll take care of everything!" It was dreadfully important to avoid the conversation about Ino's upcoming wedding despite the blond woman bringing up the subject.

Once it was brought, knives flew in the air.

Ino sniffled and turned her watery eyes to the clock. "I guess I should. Chouji's mom's had been mentioning about some herbal tea to calm the rascal's kicking." She turned away from the back of the counter of the counter to reveal her fifth-month-old stomach. Usually for women and their pregnancies, they barely showed at the second trimester, but with Ino…it was best not mention it unless the dire need to die was wanted. "Ah! I need to kick some ass. I feel like a fatass."

Momiji kept her mouth closed and busied herself with rearranging some flowers.

"Remember," Ino called out, sliding her arms into a coat. "Don't arrange flowers unless absolutely needed! You suck at it."

"Jeez, Ino-chan, thanks," Momiji's voice was full of sarcasm.

"What was that?!"

"Nothing!"

"Better be. I'll see you tomorrow. Remember to close the store!"

And with that, the blond was gone.

Momiji sighed and walked around the store, tidying a few flowers and items before sauntering towards the cash register and waiting for any customers to appear.

It had nearly been twelve years since she had been here, making this village her permanent home.

The thought of it broke her heart, but it was a necessity to stay here if she wanted to live.

When the caravan had neared Konohagakure, the rogues attacked everybody: man, woman, and child. It was horrifying. Luckily, some of the shinobi who were returning from a mission helped defend the helpless, inexperience merchants. But some were not so lucky on surviving.

Konohagakure's Rokudaime helped the caravan, allowing them to stay however long necessary until they were ready to depart and travel once more.

The caravan had left within a month, graciously thanking the Hokage for his help and moved on with their way of life. All except for a handful of the merchants, which included her mother.

Her mother had fallen in love with the village and out of a whim decided to stay. Her mother had found a job at Ichiraku and rented a small humble apartment off to the east of the village, and enrolled Momiji into an academic school. Even when Momiji begged piteously for her mother to register her into the Academy for future kunoichis and shinobis, her mother stuck to her firm answer of no.

Everything was wonderful until Momiji had tapped into her bloodline.

That was when her mother wanted to return into the protection of her original village.

Eight years living in Konohagakure and making it their home wasn't easy to ignore. Her mother knew that she didn't want to leave, but the thought of her daughter to be kidnapped and used as a soldier terrified her. The thought of safety for the past eight years didn't matter; she wanted to return home with her relatives and blood. The blind thought of it didn't deter her from her decision.

The Rokudaime had known about the incident of Momiji reviving their precious pet from the dead. There was nothing that didn't escape his attention and there were those who were fiercely loyal to him.

That was when Momiji actually met him, him and his baby blue eyes.

Never having met the Hokage of Konohagakure, Momiji was unsure of what to feel when Uzumaki Naruto recommended her mother to stay within the confines of the village.

Her mother was fierce and wanted to leave, saying that he had no reason to keep them. And when he had mentioned about Momiji's bloodline, her mother became a tiger. She said he had no power to keep them, and if he did it against their wishes, he was no better than Kirigakure's previous Mizukages. To confide a family within the village was no different than locking up a prisoner in a jail cell.

At the tender age of fourteen, Momiji did nothing but stay off to the side and listen to their argument. And when she and her mother were leaving in the dead of the night, she said nothing.

It wasn't until they were attacked at the front gates of the village, did Momiji's mother realized how right the Hokage was.

In her life, she had never felt fear as intense as she did that night.

The ninjas immediately separated the mother and daughter. There had been six in total, which only told how desperate they were for the girl who could bring back the dead. The group of shinobis had heard leaked information about the girl, and laughed openly at her mother's stupidity for leaving the protection of the village. Not only had they done that, but they also mentioned how they were going to breed Momiji like a cow for her bloodline, and it was her stupid mother's entire fault.

"_Rasengan!"_

Momiji will never forget the relief of hearing his voice.

And that's how she fell in love with the Rokudaime.

Of course, her mother had repeatingly apologized to the Hokage, asking for forgiveness. Her mother felt she was in dept to the Hokage. After all, he saved her daughter's life.

Momiji was given a chance to train under the famous Hatake Kakashi to become a kunoichi, but she declined it.

She had never come close to a shinobi before, and her impression had been given by the shinobis who attempted to kidnap her.

She never wanted to become like that.

It disgusted her even when the Hokage tried to assure her of the shinobi honor, but nothing could dissuade her from the images of the disgusting men punching and kicking her defenseless mother to the ground. It angered her.

Momiji sighed and cracked her neck. She glanced at the clock to see that an hour had gone by and there was nobody.

It wasn't that she wasn't grateful for the job, but damn, was there anything to kick up the dull atmosphere?

Her eyes swayed to the flowers, fingers tapping on the flat surface of the counter as she mulled over the idea of putting together some flowers as an arrangement. But once she remembered how Ino's reaction had been when she discover Momiji chopping up her treasured flowers was strong enough to discourage her from it.

It wasn't her fault she didn't have a green thumb.

Her stomach growled.

Great, she was hungry…_again._

Sadly and unfortunately, her hunger was not worth the wrath of future Akimichi.

Perhaps after her shift, she should visit her mother and get some free ramen. The thought of it made Momiji's mouth salivate.

"Momiji!"

Instantaneously, her back straightened at the cheerful voice. "H-hokage-sama!"

Naruto washed into the small shop, grinning that infamous fox-like grin of his. His eyes looked around for any sight of Yamanaka Ino and sighed in relief when she wasn't present. "Momiji!" he greeted once again and walked towards the eighteen-year-old with determination in his stride. "So-"

"I'm not joining the academy, Hokage-sama," Momiji said shyly.

"Aw, come on!"

She shook her head, clearing her throat and tugging on a strand of brown hair that escaped from the confines of her hair tie. "You've been asking me the same question over and over again."

"I'm not going to stop asking. You've got real talent!"

Momiji giggled. "I haven't even done any training."

"Anybody can do anything! You can do it! Believe it!"

The bell hanging over the door chimed, bringing Momiji's attention to the Hyuuga woman entering with a shy smile just as equal to her own.

"Hinata!" Naruto said, laughing nervously as he scratched at his ear. "I—uh, I was going-"

Hinata politely greeted Momiji who returned her words before turning towards Naruto who looked as if his hand was caught in the cookie jar. "Naruto-kun, the elders have been asking for you for the past three hours. Where have you been?"

Naruto's mouth opened and closed repetitively without a sound until he came clean. "Aw, come on, Hinata-chan! I've been buried in paperwork since the old hag appointed me as Hokage! Don't you think I deserve a break?"

"It's," Hinata's pale eyes swerved to Momiji who busied herself with giving small touches to the flower arrangements near the windows. "It's an emergency meeting. They said they've received information about a previous enemy of Konohagakure."

The goofy, cheery personality of Naruto immediately dwindled.

He had taken his role as Hokage seriously when appointed the first second by the Godaime. Konohagakure was his village, and his family. Everyone was under his protection so long as they needed it. And at the slightest information about enemies came to his ears, Naruto threw away all childish acts and sacrificed all the time of his life to prevent war or invasions into his territory.

"Alright, let's go."

Momiji turned and waved goodbye to the Hokage and his wife, blushing madly when Naruto grinned cutely.

Ahhh, that Hinata was one lucky dame.

For the next couple of hours, Momiji was watering the plants, tending to the customers and watching the clock as it ever so slowly ticked away. The windows darkened as the sun disappeared. The colors of sky blue and gold disappeared and were replaced with blue and purple. Soon enough, the tiny lights appeared, decorating said sky with lights to the darkness.

When she glanced at the clock again, she groaned.

There was still two more hours to go!

"Why, why, why is this so boring?" Momiji whined, letting her head fall on the counter top. She was lucky that she had a job, but man, was there nothing she could amuse herself with?

The bell chimed again and Momiji sighed. "Welcome to the Yamanaka Flower Shop!" she said rather too bright and fake.

When she lifted her head from the counter, Momiji froze.

The young man who had walked into the store was filthy and stunk for miles. Dirt clung to his clothes, clothes that were ripped and obviously worn out. Soil was literally embedded and smudged onto his pale, deathly white skin. The dark circles under his eyes spoke in volumes of restless nights. Despite the fact that there was a highly suspicious homeless-looking male before her, it was his eyes that terrified her. Those turquoise eyes of his were dull and blank, staring at her rather angrily for some reason unknown to her.

She was petrified.

"Who are you?" he asked. His voice was soft, but it didn't dampen the hostility his body language shouted.

Momiji backed away from the counter as he approached her. She stared at him with wide eyes, her arms behind her as she sought for a weapon for defense.

"Who are you?" That steel voice of his cut through all of her sense of safety.

Momiji made her decision right there and then.

She let out a helpless cry as she ran from the counter into the backroom of the store. The loud sound of her harsh breathing blocked all other sounds, but that didn't mean she could feel him nearing her. Momiji started throwing things down as she ran, hoping he would trip and fall, giving her enough time to make a run for it in the streets and call for help.

As she made a sharp turn the sharp sound of something thrown through the air swept past her ear. Momiji cried out as several unidentified objects swished through the air and pinned her to the wall.

"No, no!" she cried, grunting as she attempted to remove herself from the wall.

"Leave me alone! Go away!" Momiji screamed as she fought against the restraints. It wasn't until she was actually looking at the objects that pinned her did she realize that it wasn't kunais and shurikens that fastened her to the wall.

They were bones.

Momiji started crying, hanging limp against the bones. The prospect of her to be kidnapped from her home was horrifying. "Please…" she begged. "Please, l-luh…leave m-me alone…"

And though she couldn't see behind her, she could feel his presence right there.

The sound of his sandals walking along the floor caused her heart rate to pulsate faster as it neared.

"Who are you?" he questioned once again.

His only answer was a strangled whimper and teary cries.

Momiji cried harder when her hair band broke, freeing her long chocolate hair. She stiffened when she felt his face press against her hair and when he took in a deep breath she felt like her world was ripping apart.

The telephone at the counter rang.

The man was now petting her hair much like an owner trying to reassure his pet from distress. "Who are you?" he asked again against her hair, in a breathy voice. "And why do I feel connected to you?"

"I…I don't know."

Kimimaro extracted himself from the young girl.

This feeling…this was the feeling of completion. It warmed his insides, filling in the emptiness of his chest cavity as if…as if everything was going to be all right. There was no room for worries, no room for anything but this pleasurable joy that sang within the very bones of his body. Kimimaro wanted nothing more than to bury himself within this feeling and never wake up.

Yes, the female was terrified, but that didn't put a damper on things.

This was it. This was what he was to live for.

This is whom he was to protect and serve.

Before he was able to apologize, he was violently shoved away. He hadn't been training religiously nor practicing his jutsus for the last four years, and because of that Kimimaro was blown away from his previous place like a shaken leaf in a hurricane. His body was thrown against one of the metallic shelves and pots of plants rained upon him. A grunt escaped his lips when one of the ceramic pots fell upon his head, placing a neat cut over his brow line.

The need to protect and serve roiled through his veins.

Quickly, he jumped to his feet and staggered a bit before grasping his holdings. Bones oozed from his skin, piercing through the air at the assailant who had attacked him.

Naruto deflected those bones with his kunais and was about to shout out his famous jutsu when he froze.

"Y-you!"

Kimimaro held still, his narrowed eyes studying the person before him.

He recognized this person.

But the only memory he could grasp was the image of a small boy two years his junior shouting absurd lines about life and choices. The person, the man before him was older, well defined and definitely wiser. His eyes roved over the blond man, studying him, as his position of offense didn't lighten up. "I recognize you."

Naruto's confused and astonished gaze moved from the young boy to Momiji who was detached from the wall by one of his ANBUs.

What the hell was going on?

**Woooooooo! It had taken a while but here's the next chapter! I had a brainfart and couldn't think of what to write for the chapter, but now that I got the flow, I'm here to deliver! (: **

**Thank you my reviewers!**

**Kimimaro Of The Rock** RustyHooker _Bitches Be Crazy_

**Guest – **here's an update! :DD


	3. An Unquestionable Motive

**Chapter 3: An Unquestionable Motive**

There was a moment of stillness. Not a single thing moved within the flower shop when the realization of who this was finally hit them. Momiji was even paralyzed from what Naruto's keen ears could pick up, whether it is from fear or instinct to survive, it didn't matter.

Naruto's eyes went to Kimimaro's hand when the slick sound of the bone moving through his open palmed caught his attention. It was then Naruto made his decision.

Shurikens flew towards the boy in distraction.

"Get her out of here!" Naruto ordered.

Kimimaro's eyes turned to see the masked men, who can only be known as the Hokage's personal ANBUs, moving towards the woman. He narrowed his eyes to a fraction and held up his hand, pointing a finger at them to unleash a stream of chakra bone bullets.

Momiji cried out, ducking her head as she saw something fast flying towards her. The ANBU who was about to grab her cursed aloud before jumping back. She peeked through her fingers to see everybody fighting to control and contain the precarious boy. Her body trembled at the sight of the combat before her, unable to move despite her mentally screaming at herself.

"M-momiji…move…move…" she whispered softly to herself as she started to cry.

When the Hokage slammed to the opposite wall of her, she screamed and picked herself up.

"Hokage-sama!" a female ANBU yelled as she dropped by his side.

Naruto clenched his teeth and looked up to see Kimimaro swiftly attacking his guards with nothing more than a bat of the eye. It was eerily similar to when he was a child, battling him on the luscious green field. The expression on the pale boy's face was just as familiar; with no change of emotions upon his face, the boy looked rather bored as he continued to fight, shooting out bones from his hands.

"Kimimaro," Naruto growled lowly as he pushed himself off the ground.

"Hokage-sama, let us take care of this!" Tenten whispered loudly, trying to push Naruto back down.

"No," Naruto shook her off. "Get the girl out. She's valuable. I'll take care of this." He turned to Tenten with strong eyes, pinning her with the look of order and obey. "I want her out of here immediately. We cannot allow him to take her."

Tenten hesitated before bowing her feline masked face. "Hai."

The two-bun woman turned around. Her whole body straightened in alertness as she glanced around quickly. The girl who had been there previously was now gone. She cursed, taking care to avoid the battle's off-shots and search for the girl.

"Hey! Girl!" she called out, ignorant of the female's name.

Momiji ignored the call of the ANBU, who could possibly save her life, and continued to fight with her frozen mentality to crawl across the tiled floors of the flower shop. She yelped when a man went flying over her head, slamming through the glass window above her and caused the shattered glass to rain down. She shielded her head with her arms, holding still until the broken glass ceased to fall.

"Momiji!" the Hokage called out.

She brushed off his call. A cry squeezed through her pink lips when her elbows met the serration of the glass. Despite the pain, she bit down hard on her lower lip and continued to creep along with delicate care.

The desperation for her could be heard within their voices, but she refused to respond.

There was no way in hell she was going to give away her position only to have that demented boy come near her.

Just a mere few feet away from the door, Momiji was about to bring herself to her feet and run for the exit when the unthinkable happened. A Rasengan swirled through the air, missing its intended target and smashing into the wall Momiji was moving slowly against. It exploded.

A terrifying scream wrung from her as the air blew strong gust about. Debris fell upon her, along with the vases of flowers, which were perched neatly upon the nailed shelf on the wall. She cried out once when a rather heavy vase fell upon her midsection, gasping when the pain blossomed throughout her whole side. Momiji curled up into a ball, wrapping her head in her arms as she fought to protect herself.

She hadn't noticed that she was no longer under the tumbling wall and pressed up against a warm chest. All her mind was concentrated on was safety and protection.

Kimimaro narrowly dodged another batch of flying kunais. He brought the girl closer to his chest, jumping through the store for a moment of protection.

A look of surprise took over his face as the blond man appeared before him.

Naruto analyzed the situation, narrowing his eyes when he noticed Kimimaro holding Momiji in the embrace of his arms. His fists clenched and he was prepared to yell at the white-haired boy when something happened. Naruto frowned, blinking rapidly as he watched Kimimaro stare back at him with emotionless dead eyes. But it wasn't that that caught Naruto's attention. It was the way this boy was holding Momiji.

The tender, gentle care of his arms held her as if she was a priceless treasure. And the expression on his face told everybody he was not to be trifled with, neither was the girl.

It didn't matter at the moment. Everything can be studied once they had Kimimaro detained, but so along as Momiji was threatened, everybody needed to continue to fight and defend their citizen.

"Give me the girl!"

Kimimaro held her closer and gave the man a look of defiance.

"I know who you are, Kimimaro." Naruto said. "You need to give me the girl. You can't have her."

The white-haired boy squinted his eyes, scrutinizing the man. "Who are you?"

"Give me the girl!" Impatience and anxiety were a constant string of emotions within Naruto at the moment, despite him not showing it. The girl was very valuable.

There had been more attempts to kidnap the girl much to her and her mother's ignorance, and because of that Naruto had placed her on the red-alert list. Momiji was frequently surveyed, shadowed by shifting ANBUs trusted by the Hokage himself. He had begged Ino to give the girl a job so that she was watched by an experienced ex-kunoichi. It helped that Chouji was always visiting around the lunch hour to his soon to be wife.

Whatever happened to her, at the end of each day, Naruto was reported to and learned of it.

The day she revived her dog, Naruto was lucky Kakashi was the one who caught her in the act and directly brought it to his attention. If it hadn't been his sensei to find out about her bloodline (whom had also volunteered his services to the girl), who knows who would've sold priceless information about her odd but extremely invaluable talent to neighboring countries.

If she had fallen in the wrong hands, Naruto didn't even want to think what would happen to not only her, but also the security of Konohagakure due to her tremendously rare bloodline.

"Who are you?" the boy stressed.

Naruto growled. "Uzumaki Naruto, Rokudaime of Konohagakure! And you are a trespasser to the village! You have past hazardous acts of threats to the village and I ask of you to leave or I will force you to!" Naruto narrowed his eyes. "And I will not do it so kindly."

Kimimaro tilted his head up regally. "Then I will leave."

With those words, he turned his foot slightly towards the exit of the store as ordered by the man, which was quickly barricaded by three ANBUs.

"Without the girl."

"I cannot do that."

Momiji felt like a rabbit, petrified with fear. She held her breath constantly, hoping to go unnoticed by the boy holding her against his chest. The warmth of his body did nothing to comfort her. If anything, the gentle pounding of his heart made hers go twice as fast with terror.

When she heard his response to the Hokage's demand, that's when her body went into life or death. She thrashed her body, kicking out and throwing her arms about. Momiji threw her elbow into his ribs, hearing a low grunt from him as he staggered back. Taking the opportunity of his stumble, the girl twisted her body as to force the boy to release her.

She cried out when her whole side throbbed from the fall.

"Momiji!"

The soft flesh of her palms pushed upon the damaged ceramic floors, attempting to pick her body up and escape. But ever so slowly, a small nudge of a foot pressed down upon her back and gently pinned her on the floor.

"It would be best for you to stay here." Kimimaro commented, keeping his eyes upon those around him.

It wasn't safe for the girl to stand.

There were sharp objects flying about, which he blocked with disinterest. But he had noticed that the girl had no experience of bloodshed and weapons. It would be best if she stayed put.

Kimimaro's body crouched from its tensed position, pulling his shoulders in as his legs bent. Kimimaro brought up his hands and the familiar feeling of a bone pushing out of his body was felt throughout the entire region of his ribs. Kimimaro snapped the bone off of the base, holding it before him much like one would with a katana.

The look on this Naruto's face did nothing to faze Kimimaro.

The only thing that was on his mind was the girl, and how desperately he wanted to keep her safe.

Not waiting for the command of the Hokage, Tenten sprouted out her scroll and quickly started throwing sharp weapons at the teenage boy.

Off from the side, Shikamaru entered the battlefield and moved his hands quickly to bring forth his shadow in an effort to use it against Kimimaro. It slithered through the ground like a cunning fox.

Kimimaro swiped the bone katana through the air, managing to catch one of the men on the arms. Blood splattered diagonally over his shirt but it didn't deter him from his personal mission.

A cry of pain was heard, and he snapped his head to the side to see one of the ANBUs grabbing the girl roughly. Inexplicable rage streamed through his veins like adrenaline, screeching at him to defend his ward.

"Let her go!" he yelled.

Bones flew from his body and attacked the ANBU, making the man look like a pincushion by the time he was finished. Said ANBU fell to the floor. The girl was dropped and a sickening crack of her head smashing into the ground resounded through the area.

There was no chance for him to seize the girl into the safety of his arms as a lash to the chest sent Kimimaro flying to the ground.

He gasped, holding his weakening chest as pain blossomed throughout his entire body. Because Kimimaro had regretfully and foolishly neglected his body of nutrition and exercise, it wasn't strong enough to keep him leaping about playfully with them. His vision blurred and he staggered as he fought to keep upright.

It only meant one thing: he had to escape fast.

And there was no way he was leaving the girl here.

Kimimaro held a hand to his ribs, wincing as a terrible ache pierced him continuously. He ignored it, grinding his teeth as he stood. His hand reached from behind and ever so slowly removed his spine. The white-haired boy was aware of the grotesque image it brought to the others, knowing that their expressions of disgust and revulsion towards his bloodlimit was not unusual. It didn't bother him.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

Naruto frowned at those words.

He gave out one last battle cry before bounding forward with his spine erected in his hands. He slashed at the masked men, including the Hokage as he frantically drove his body forth towards the girl's unmoving, limp body.

Where he had not experienced the emotion of anxiety and urgency with Orochimaru, Kimimaro was confused and befuddled, but nonetheless allowed these uncommon feelings muddle within him. Just as his fingers skimmed the softness of the nameless girl's hair, a sharp pain to his head made him hesitate for a brief moment.

"_I won't let you take him!"_

The Rokudaime knew what the man was doing.

"Kimimaro!" he yelled, rushing forward towards his back. His hands move quickly. "Kage buunshin no jutsu!"

"_Tajuu Kage buunshin no Jutsu!"_

And with those words of the past, the awakened warrior was immediately placed back to sleep with a clean, unsuspecting kick to the back of his head.

Naruto panted. He leaned down and placed the palm of his hands upon his knees as he wiped the sweat off his brow.

"We've stabilized him," an ANBU reported.

The demon container didn't need to look off to the side to see Kimimaro chained like the criminal he was. All he did was nod, giving the permission the ANBU needed to take their hostage into the secure bars of the cells inside the Hokage tower. It was the only place shinobis and kunoichis in the bingo book (or deadlier) were admitted to stay. Only a Hokage and his legion of closer followers could hold them in.

Naruto turned to Momiji to see that she was still limp on the ground.

"Momiji!" he yelled, panicking at the dire situation.

A medic quickly dropped by her side, tapping her shoulder roughly. "Hello? Hello, can you hear me?" the medic practically screamed.

Though Momiji's eyes were open, her mind was still in the life of the battle within the small flower shop. She didn't notice the medic besides her pulling at her shoulder, forcing her to lie on her back. The bright lights of the room enveloped her vision, preventing her from seeing anything until the beautiful face of the Rokudaime entered her line of vision. His mouth moved and his eyes were worried with concern.

A dull ache throbbed at the back of her head.

Slowly, her hand moved to the area and pulled back only to see blood coating her fingertips.

"Miss, miss, are you alright?"

Suddenly, the buzzing sound of silence dispersed, allowing Momiji to hear the urgent voice of the medic. Her purple eyes gazed at him wordlessly.

The medic-nin turned towards the Hokage. "She's in shock. From her head trauma, I can only conclude that there's a slight possibility of a concussion. She should be admitted into the emergency room and given care immediately. I don't want to risk a coma."

Naruto nodded. "I'll take her. Follow me."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

Gently, he picked up Momiji diligently as to not cause her head to move about too much. Swiftly, but just as carefully, he ran through the night, holding Momiji tight to his chest.

The girl in his arms stared up at him quietly, blinking those sleepy eyes of hers.

Everything happened within seconds. One moment it was dark, cold and bumpy, and suddenly it was bright, fast and crowded.

"I need you to stay awake, Momiji-chan, okay?" one of the nurses said.

Momiji stared at the nurse blankly.

"Let's situate her in a room!" the nurse with pink hair screamed, holding two hands around her head as so it wouldn't be moving too much. "Prepare the IV infusion and the monitors! Somebody get a neck brace!" She turned next to her and glared at the Hokage. "Naruto-baka, how can you move her around roughly like that? It's important for a head trauma patient to be as still as possible!"

"Sakura-chaaaaan," Naruto whined, helping the other nurses push the gurney around the hospital quickly.

Momiji was what she assumed was on a gurney, wheeled around quickly in a motion that made her stomach all tingly. She smiled goofily, drooling everywhere and ever so quietly said, "wheeee", causing the Hokage to laugh hysterically at her.

"Shut up!" Sakura slapped Naruto's head.

In less than a moment, she was in a room with machines beeping constantly. And every time she started to close her eyes, a nurse roughly shook her shoulder.

"You can't sleep."

Momiji grumbled and glared at the nurse.

"Sorry, honey. Rules are rules."

Even though Momiji didn't have the strength to reply to the mean nurse, she couldn't think of a mental come back before the door to the room was literally shoved open. "Momiiiiijiiiiiiii!"

The piercing shriek of her mother's voice stabbed through her head.

A mid-forties woman dashed into the room, glancing everywhere for her daughter until she spotted the dazed girl's body three beds down. "Momiji!" she cried once again, sobbing uncontrollably. The blond haired woman collapsed on the chair scooted near her bed. "Momiji! Open your eyes, Momiji! Momiji!"

The nurse cleared her throat as if to make her presence known. "Ma'am, your daughter is awake."

Momiji merely blinked, too tired to even comprehend what was going on.

Her mother cried, clasping Momiji's hand within her own and leaned forward. "What happened? Are you okay? Are you hurt? Why do you have a neck brace? Do you need anything?" A small yelp from her mother's coat stopped the woman from firing more questions.

A small white head of a dog struggled out her coat and started barking nonstop at Momiji's beaten body.

The nurse frowned. "Ma'am, you cannot have an animal on hospital grounds."

"Shut up, you stupid cow!"

At that moment, Naruto decided to grace everyone with his presence. "Oh! Hayashi-san!"

"Hokage-sama," the nurse started. Naruto merely waved his hand and with a kind smile dismissed the nurse from her station. While the nurse walked away in a huff, he turned to see the white dog glaring at him. "Oi! Akamaru's son!" He reached over in a friendly attempt to pet the dog, but immediately retracted his hand when the tiny runt snarled ugly and snapped at those friendly fingers. "Che, I don't remember Akamaru ever acting this badly, must've gotten his mother's temper," Naruto muttered.

"What happened?" Momiji's mother asked with watery eyes.

Naruto turned to the mother and smiled. "We will tell you everything, but first I want to ask Momiji some questions."

With that, he turned to the girl on the bed. "Momiji, I know you're tired and want nothing more than to sleep, but I need to ask some important questions. You don't need to answer, you can just move your head, alright?"

Momiji blinked at him sleepily but nodded stiffly as the neck brace was refraining her from moving too much.

An eerie silenced followed in the room full with patients.

Naruto sat on the opposite chair of her mother, on the other side of the bed and scooted it closer to Momiji as to focus on her facial expressions. With all this that was going on, Naruto needed to narrow down the possibilities of Kimimaro's existence. "Do you know who the boy was?"

Momiji shook her head.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," she croaked.

"Are you telling me you've never seen him before?"

Hayashi-san snapped. She stood up from her seat and dumped the small white dog on Momiji's lap. "Why are you asking here these questions?" she yelled, placing her hands on her hips. "Do you think my daughter has any way of knowing that monstrosity that attacked her?"

The other patients in the room stared at them.

Naruto sighed and scratched the back of his head, wondering if he should proceed or not. He cleared his throat and looked from Momiji to her mother, then to the dog; his brows furrowed in thought. "We need to know if Momiji ever had any previous connection with him, because he's a very dangerous man."

"I think we understand that," Momiji's mother scoffed.

"And though he's dangerous," Naruto continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. "He was protecting Momiji from us the whole time."

Momiji blinked rapidly at the information.

She watched as those blue eyes sucked her in, hardened with determination and seriousness for her answer and for the dire situation, which had, arose.

"So, I ask again, do you know him?"

**Woot, woot! Here's an update! (: It's been quite a while since I've updated anything, but then again, I'm super busy nowadays ;_; I have no time for anything, much less writing, argh! But again, I promise you I will never leave any stories incomplete. **

**I would love to update much more faster, but I'm balancing not only my fanfic account but also my fictionpress. And with the little time I can spare for writing, it's going slow D:**

**Thank you for the reviews! (: Hope you enjoyed the chapter ;D**

**PaNdAbluez **virkelighetsflukt _Bitches Be Crazy_ **theristia** God of the Tsukuyomi

**Angelwolf123 – **Haha, that's fine (: Either an anonymous review or a review connected with an account is the same, no worries! Omgsh, I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far! I was scared that I hadn 't gotten his character down, but it seems like everyone is pleased with it :D I shall take those two HUGE thumbs up and make more awesome chapters, hahaha! I didn't want Momiji to be a ninja, it wouldn't have fit with the story role, which people will come to understand as time progresses. And you're lucky! Because here's an update ;D


	4. A Court's Disorder

**Chapter 4:**** A Court's Disorder**

It was almost disconcerting how attached the dog was to Momiji.

Momiji remembered the day her mother had brought in the white puppy from the Inuzuka compound, and she remembered exactly how much that dog loathed her very presence. She didn't know whether it was because her mother coddled the thing incessantly or the dog still remembered the very first day Momiji accidently trampled over it in excitement at having a dog. All in all, the dog preferred Momiji's mom and was very overprotective of her.

It was until that day happened.

Her mother had gone to Ichiraku, working an early shift, and demanded Momiji to take Aiko out for a walk around. So, being the dutiful young daughter, Momiji grabbed the snarling little white beast and dragged it along the village for it to gain proper exercise. Of course, Aiko didn't like not only the way Momiji was pulling her roughly with the leash, but also she hated the human who wasn't her master. The little white constantly bite and scratched at Momiji to a point where the girl yelped and released it.

The dog ran off through the village and straight into the training grounds.

Momiji hadn't seen what happened. The only thing she had noticed was two frazzled boys darting out of the bushes with pure panic in their face. When she suspiciously approached the area they had ran away from, she was greeted with Aiko's dead body.

Pure horror and agony swept through Momiji's small body. She screamed and ran to Aiko, hovering over the dead animal with trembling hands as it was still bleeding heavily from its wound.

Sure, she hated the dog with a blinding passion, but that didn't mean Aiko had no significant part in her life.

There was nothing that could compare with how Momiji felt. Different emotions and pains roiled through her like a high speed rollercoaster, unable to cope or concentrate on one single perspective. It came to a point where the hyperventilating girl didn't notice another party member watching her from the side, who was about to come and comfort her when the unthinkable happened.

Momiji wouldn't and couldn't to this day explain what happened.

All it took was one innocuous touch and in the next moment, Aiko was lathering Momiji's quivering hands with a warm tongue.

Momiji sighed, thinking about that day as she scratched a sleepy Aiko's head. The dog was snoozing on the girl's lap, cuddling by her side as its paws twitched every now and then.

Two full days in the hospital and finally Momiji was free to come back home. Her mother had brought Momiji back home and took unnecessary days off of work, bickering over the forcibly bed-ridden teenager like the mother hen she was. It had taken more than enough medicine from the drug store to numb down the painful sensation of prickling needles from her broken ribs.

Momiji hissed and cursed as she accidently rolled on her tender ribs as she tried to get off the bed.

"Momiji!" her mother sang and burst into the room.

Aiko immediately bounced to her paws and yipped at the woman excitingly, wagging its tail vigorously.

Her mother walked to Momiji's bedside and gently pushed her daughter back into bed. "Now, now, Momiji, you have another half an hour before the proceedings. You don't need to be up any earlier."

At the mention of that, Momiji sighed heavily once again. "I don't want to go."

"You have to."

Of course, she had to. The council was going to be there including many important figures of the shinobi world. The appearance of the man had caused quite a surge of outrage within neighboring villages, demanding the explanations of the mysteries the dead shinobi existence had warranted. And it was to a point where even Momiji's secrecy was forced to either come out in public or not, depending on the council and the kages. Including the possibility of whether or not Momiji had anything to do with conspiring against Konohagakure.

Hayashi sat down on the edge of Momiji's bed and brushed back her bangs. "It's alright, Momiji. The Hokage will be there in the same room as you."

"And the enemy."

At this Hayashi cleared her throat. "You will be heavily protected by the many others in the room. And remember what Naruto-sama had said; he said the man was protecting you."

"But we don't truly know that. And we don't know for how long, okaasan."

It was terrifying when Naruto had briefly explained his suspicions about the situation, but he was not allowed to go any further as he wanted to have a briefing with the council and decide what to do on from there. He assured Hayashi and Momiji that they had no reason to fear for the man was in the dungeons of the Hokage tower and had no way of escaping.

But for that man to protect her? And for what reason?

Momiji gulped, placing her hand upon her throbbing ribs as she frowned at the ceiling. She ignored her mother as she coddled with Aiko and blinked in confusion.

Why couldn't she be blessed with a normal life like the rest?

She cleared her throat. Turning her head to the alarm clock off to the side, Momiji noticed it was nearing noon and sighed once again. "Come on, okaasan. It's time."

Within a minute, there was a knocking at the front door. Hatake Kakashi stood there with his one eye creasing in a telltale smile. "Good afternoon, Hayashi-san, Momiji-san," he greeted with a lazy flick of his hand. "I am Hatake Kakashi and I am to escort you to the Hokage tower." With that, he removed a scroll from the pocket of his flak jacket, and opened it as he held onto both mother and daughter's hands. And in a split second, they've transported from their neighborhood and directly into the front of the tower.

Hayashi delighted over the experience whereas Momiji's stomach was revolting against it strongly. She leaned against the wall of the tower and breathed in deeply, praying to the heavens above she did not lose control of her stomach. She heard her mother following Hatake into the building and fumbled after them while clutching at her upset stomach.

The cool ventilated air of the building dried away the beaded sweat perspiring at her temples, allowing Momiji to gain somewhat of a stability of her nauseous and dizzying moment. Standing up, she smoothed the wrinkles from her proper clothes (as her mother demanded she wore before the elders).

A few shinobis and kunoichis were walking about; some were even donned in secretarial clothes, rushing around to complete the orders of their boss. She looked at the creamy walls, finding pictures of great ninjas who supported and protected Konohagakure.

It was nearly impossible to fight to blush off her face when she saw Naruto's face hung up upon the wall.

"Momiji, hurry up!"

Quickly, she followed after her mother, ignoring the well-knowing stare coming from Hatake and scowling at his smirk. Momiji jotted to her mother's side and paused in front of a double-entranced door. Hatake walked to the door, opening it to announce their arrival before ushering the two inside.

There was nothing that could compare to the moment of many pairs of eyes watching you.

While her mother had been urged to sit in the stands with the few other figures who were allowed to hear the proceedings of the council, Momiji was lightly shoved into the direction of the podium, which was surrounded by the entire council room, which held a lot more people that she anticipated. Her purple eyes glanced around to see there were citizens from different neighboring villages present. Panicking, she pushed back against Hatake's light directional pushing, which only produced an amused chuckle from him.

"Just breathe," he advised before leaving her all on her own.

An old woman peered at Momiji, adjusting the glasses upon her eyes. "Are you Hayashi Momiji?"

Momiji nodded.

"We need a verbal confirmation."

Blushing madly, she nodded before stuttering, "Y-yes!" with an embarrassing choking sound.

Next to the old woman was a man with pearly eyes, a man who rarely escaped from the boundaries of his clan's territory to fiddle with the issues of the village. "Upon four days ago, were you working during the afternoon shift at the Yamanaka's flower shop?" Hiashi questioned.

"Yes."

"And what happened that day?"

She hadn't known they were going to start at the moment of her arrival. Momiji gulped around, trembling as she glanced back to assure herself that her mother was still there in the same room.

"Eyes over here, Momiji-san," Homura demanded firmly. As one of the strict elders of Konohagakure, he was firm upon the presentation of each child born upon this land and found the teenager they were questioning distasteful with her constant shifting eyes and nervous behavior. "Tell us what happened."

"I," she started, gulping down the collecting amount of saliva in her mouth. "I…I was working that day with Yamanaka-san." Momiji's eyes darted to the side to see Ino's beau standing off to the side, his arms crossed along with his other teammate. "She was complaining about the wedding and her pregnancy. She was going to visit her fiancé's mother for some herbal tea."

"Is this true, Yamanaka Ino?"

"Yes."

Momiji's brunette head whipped around to see Ino sitting on one of the benches off to the side with other witnesses (from what she was assuming).

"What happened next?" An old woman asked sternly. "Momiji-san?"

"The Hokage visited—"

"That is correct!" The exuberant Hokage of Konohagakure, who was seated directly in the middle of the council (as he was the utmost important figure), slammed his hand down upon the wooden table. "Now enough of this shit, let's get to the real questionings! We already know what happened! We don't need to go through this all over again!"

Koharu, who was very unamused by Naruto's display, frowned severely at him. "I will not tolerate any mishaps within the council room! We will question the—"

"We don't need to question her! We already did it at the hospital!"

"It needs to be heard by everyone else," Homura snapped, leaning forward and turning his head to glare at the unruly Hokage. "Naruto-san, please refrain yourself from interrupting the questionings!"

Before Naruto could continue on with irritation and annoyance of the elders placing restrictions upon him, Kakashi, who was standing behind Naruto, smacked him in the head and chided his ex-student. Naruto mumbled loudly, rubbing his head sorely and quieted.

Koharu turned her head, her hairpiece tinkering from movement. Her sharp eyes pierced through Momiji's, causing the young teenager to flinch as she was startled by it. "What happened when the Hokage visited?"

Momiji cleared her throat. Her hands started to nervously fiddle with one another, wringing them like any other nervous and anxious person would. "The Hokage came and visited the flower store, asking me if I had changed my mind about training to become a kunoichi and train under Hatake Kakashi. Afterwards, his wife joined and urged him to return to the elders as they were looking for him." Momiji paused, gulping. "I didn't listen anymore after that. They left pretty soon. And then…."

"And then?"

As if a movie reel was playing in her head, Momiji's head was filled with images of that specific night. Staring off into the mahogany podium she was heavily leaning upon for support, she shuddered. "And then he came."

An Aburame turned to the witnesses. "Ayame-san, is this correct?"

The daughter of the famous ramen chef of Konohagakure nodded. "I heard a disturbance in the area and quickly closed the shop. Father wasn't there, so I hid under one of the tables until the fighting stopped."

Confirmed with the fight, Hiashi eyed the girl with hardened eyes. "Who was he?"

"I don't know."

"What did he look like?"

With a wounded expression, Momiji closed her eyes and tried to forget about the night of pure terror and horror. Instead of forgetting about that dreadful day, it brought back fragment of memories from the incident. "He had white hair, blue or green eyes. Red dots on his face. He…he…" Momiji gasped, clutching her chest in fear all while her eyes were closed. "He wanted to know who I was! He, he wanted to know…he wanted to know why…why…." She paused.

"Why…?" Hiashi urged.

It was confusing really. Now that Momiji remembered. She hadn't felt it at all, she hadn't known why the man was there, but he announced it all at that time with only a couple of words.

"He wanted to know…why…why we were connected."

There was a rush of murmur waving behind the others who were seated behind her and before the council. "Silence!" Homura demanded, washing all whispers away with his strong fierce voice. And despite his strong façade, the elder was nervously itching to scratch at his jittery limbs, something habitual that was developed back in his preening adulthood when things tended to become too great of a deal to deal with. He turned to his longtime teammate, Koharu, who was just as nervous with this newfound information, and searched into her eyes for anything.

Koharu cleared her throat. "How did you feel?"

"Terrified."

"Did you feel connected?" Koharu said slowly, choosing her words carefully.

Momiji shook her head, opening her watery eyes to gaze up at the elders. "I was scared for my life. I don't have time to waste over that!"

And then, the one thing the Hokage himself has tried very hard to conceal came out in the open.

"Is it true that you can raise the dead?"

A resounding gasp echoed through the area.

"That is not a valid question, Ichirou," Naruto snarled.

"I've heard rumors!" a shinobi from a different village within the crowd crowed. "I've heard that she brought her dog back to life!"

"It's impossible!"

"She did it! She's been hit multiple times by assassins and hired mercenaries! They've been hiding the truth! They've been hiding her from us!" the same shinobi yelled.

"Order! Order!" Homura demanded when the others became too rowdy. He flared his chakra, demanding neighboring advisors to silence along with the other shinobis. Where this case would've been silent within the walls of Konohagakure, the enemy who had attacked and supposedly protected Hayashi Momiji had inflicted injury and harm upon different villages; therefore, it was necessary for the Kage's advisors and councilmen to join the fray and demand an explanation of the bone eater's appearance. "I demand order and silence within the council room!"

Though reluctant, sooner or later the room diminished to a quiet hum of angry whispers.

"We had no knowledge of this, Homura!" Ao, a friend and advisor to the Mizukage, growled. The wooden pallet earrings flickered with irritation and anxiousness from the new found knowledge. "You have a weapon!"

"She is a child!" Naruto defended.

"A weapon of mass destruction!" the Raikage's bodyguard, Darui, exclaimed.

The shinobis, advisors, and councilmen started to become angsty.

Momiji shivered, clutching to herself as the yelling in the room became louder and louder. She turned this way and that, looking to see people pointing at her viciously and demanding her death. Others wanted to use her to bring others back to life to regain what they had lost in the Fourth Ninja World War. Her wide purple eyes watched as people nervously shifted away from her as if she was a plague, fearing that any wrong move can bring dire consequences. She continued to tremble, fear and dreading the outcome of this meeting.

Nothing had prepared her for this. This, her bloodline, was supposed to be kept a secret.

"We want a share of her power!" one of the Tsuchikage's advisor's yelled.

"No!"

Everyone turned to see the pirate stand from his seat, a hawk flying out of the window as it had delivered its parchment to the nin. "I have sent word about Hayashi Momiji's back to the Mizukage only to find that she was from our village originally!" Ao declared, lifting up a scroll that had just been delivered from Kirigakure. "We demand her presence back! We will have her within our walls and system!"

"Oh, so you can gain power?" Koharu sneered. "That will never happen. The Hayashi family is under our protection."

"Under force!" someone screamed.

Naruto snarled viciously, his stripes darkening slightly. "I didn't force them to stay! I advised them and they suffered the consequences when they ignored it! I do not cage my people in Konohagakure!"

"Konohagakure is too powerful to keep her! Give her to another village to balance out!"

A man from the end of the council row stood. "We will have equality amongst the ninja villages!" He slammed his hand powerfully upon the wooden desk before him, demanding all attention to be turned in his direction. "Konohagakure will not have the massive power, as they already have the Kyuubi as their Hokage! We will not perish or suffer under your destructive means shall dispute come between us! The only way to settle this is if she brings alive our men from our village to life! Each village shall have one person from their choice resurrected and alive, so the necromancer shall not be swayed by Konohagakure's judgment and demands!" The loud cheers and agreements from the others started to grow with a crescendo. "Then we will know that Konohagakure has no greater power than we do and fear from you!"

It was deafening in the council room.

Momiji started to tremble in fear as she heard different advice and concern thrown into the fray. She hadn't realized her mother had run from her seat and enveloped the fearful girl into her arms.

"We don't know how it works! For all we know it could be sucking the very life out of her. I will not risk a member of my village to inflict harm or injury upon her just for your sake!" Naruto yelled, pointing at everyone. "She will be doing nothing!"

It was silent for a moment. It was until Ao stood and regarded the Hokage with one eye. "Then consider our treaty broken. You are too strong; we cannot continue to be friendly with one who will not share power."

"We will have nothing to do with Konohagakure!"

"Konohagakure is too strong!"

Naruto slammed his fist on the table, snarling and frothing like the demon he was. His eyes flickered blue and red, glaring at the fearful faces before her. "She is not a tool! She will not be used for you sick pleasures and whims! Momiji is a child and she will not be used! That is final!" With that, Naruto stood from his chair, swirled around and threw the doors open to the hallway only used by the Hokage. Immediately, four personal ANBUs flanked his person.

At once, the council room exploded with yelling and screaming from one person to another, and at each other.

Momiji and her mother were quickly escorted by Hatake through the same hallway Naruto had disappeared through. The noise from the council room came to a silence, allowing Momiji to listen to her rapidly beating heart. She hadn't even realized she was holding onto her mother and was sobbing pitifully.

Hatake guided them into a room where Naruto was pacing madly. He didn't look up at them when they entered.

"Where's Gaara?" Naruto snapped at one of his ANBUs.

"On the way," the cat masked ANBU replied monotonously.

And like that, the Kazekage entered the room with his two siblings at side.

"Naruto," Gaara greeted emotionlessly. His teal eyes turned to the mother and daughter, making note of them before turning his whole attention to the frustrated blond. "You wanted me to look at your charge?"

"Bring him," Naruto said, too furious to even think about answering Gaara's question.

In that order, six more ANBUs were brought into the room along with Kakashi and Yamato. The room sealed off and there were people with their back to the walls, leaving Momiji and her mother standing somewhat in the middle. A chair was placed in the middle of the circle and in less than five minutes someone appeared in the room and heaved a body into the chair.

Momiji whimpered pathetically when she noticed who it was, ducking her face into her mother's shoulder.

Kimimaro breathed heavily, fighting with everything in his worth to sit up and look around him. When he had been barred away for the last three to four days, the feel of utter desolation filled every corner of his being. Now, despite he was tortured and starved in the dungeons, Kimimaro felt secure and safe as he noticed the girl was in the same room as he was.

"Kaguya Kimimaro,"

His eyes turned to the speaker and immediately he was washed over with memories of his death. "You," he said deathly quiet.

Gaara regarded the violent man with a tilt of his chin. "You are Kaguya Kimimaro, correct?"

Kimimaro did not answer.

Instead of expecting anything from the tied delinquent, Gaara turned to Naruto and nodded. "I can confirm his identity. This is indeed the man I had battled long ago along with Rock Lee." As if seconding his confirmation, Rock Lee walked forth and provided his confirmation as well.

Naruto nodded his head while his eyes were still trained on the invader. "Why are you here?"

Kimimaro said nothing.

It didn't surprise Naruto. During the last three days, he had watched and observed the interrogation of this man only to come out with nothing. Ibiki had done his job as a torture and interrogator of Konohagakure, but nothing the man had done incited Kimimaro to talk. The white-haired nin stayed silent, subjecting himself to instruments of horror to a point where Naruto had to intervene and pause all actions lest he die. It was eerie. The man, who looked like he was well in his prime, should be defensive, acting out, but instead, he was withdrawn from the world.

Unless...

Naruto gazed over his shoulder at Momiji and her mother. He turned back to Kimimaro to see him staring at him with hardened eyes. Testing the theory him and the council had contemplated upon, he whirled and took one step towards the two and the unthinkable happened.

Instantaneously, bones pierced through Kimimaro's skin like butter. He staggered to his feet, the chakra ropes burning madly against his skin as he glared at Naruto; the need to protect roiled through his very veins. The need didn't diminish as he was surrounded by many ANBUs. "Get...away...from her." he said hoarsely.

Momiji cried out in fear, holding onto her mother tighter as she saw the man try to come close.

"Why are you protecting her?"

He said nothing.

"What do you want with her?"

Again, nothing.

"Who do you work for?"

Nothing more than a slight narrowing of the eyes.

"Where did you come from?"

Nothing.

"How are you alive?"

The quietness in the room was thick with tension. Naruto hummed, thinning his lips as he nodded. He turned away from Kimimaro and strode to his desk, pulling out a couple empty folders. "Then it seems we have nothing to do with the Hayashi family. It's better to deliver them to Kirigakure and have the Mizukage use her for whatever means." Naruto's eyes widened and he quickly moved his hand back as a bone zipped through the air and pierced through his desk. Instantly, he was swamped with ANBUs.

"That will never happen," Kimimaro stated quietly, turning his body towards Naruto despite the many shinobis surrounding him.

"And why not? She means nothing to you." Naruto baited.

"We are connected!" he yelled, falling to his knees as his limited energy sapped away from him. Kimimaro ignored the shinobis. "She is mine to protect and serve. I will not allow you to sell her off like an animal, Uzumaki."

Naruto sighed heavily as finally the answer came out. He ushered the ANBUs away from him and sat upon his leather seat. "It seems," he started, looking at Momiji sternly. "It seems as if you've brought him back to life."

"Never! I've never even met him before!" Momiji denied, holding her mother closer to her. "I've never seen him before!"

The Rokudaime nodded. "It probably has been done unintentionally." He pulled open a drawer and splayed open a piece of parchment. "When the caravan traveled from Sunagakure to Konohagakure for trade, you crossed through a part of the land which was the mark of Kimimaro's death. I'm not sure if you remember a green pasture of bones the size of trees upon your journey here, do you?

Hayashi nodded. "Yes, yes, I do."

Momiji stared at her mother in confusion before shaking her head. "I don't remember."

Hayashi smoothed her daughter's hair back. "We passed through it. You and the other children played through it." She looked at the Hokage with concerned eyes. "I don't think she'll remember if she had awakened him or not."

"No doubt she did," Kakashi said smoothly. "Hadn't your dog hated Momiji?"

Hayashi nodded hesitantly.

"And now your dog likes her?" Kakashi looked at Momiji. "Sounds like you've bonded with your dog through your...awakening," he said slowly, using the word her mother was comfortable with.

Momiji hesitated before she turned to look at Kimimaro. His turquoise eyes pierced through her purple ones with such intensity that there was no denying the connection the man had felt with her. She whimpered, clutching her mother as she noticed that there was in fact a small connection between the two of them as she felt his utter wanting to protect her from everyone in the room.

The man was terrifying, no doubt in that.

"She is mine," Kimimaro claimed.

Naruto scoffed. "Not for long." His blue eyes swerved to Momiji to study both mother and daughter before sighing heavily and placing his face into the palm of his hand. Everything was a disaster. What was meant to be a small case of apprehending and identifying the suspect ended up becoming a pile of shit each and every village want. Now that the girl's secret bloodline had been spilled for all ears, Naruto can't protect her as much as he wanted to. Every village was up against his home, and with his homeland on one hand and Momiji on the other, Naruto can only choose one to protect and one to relent.

"What happens now?" Momiji asked quietly.

The Rokudaime sat there in silence, his lips pursed and eyes darkening. "We take this to the daimyos."

**Finally I've updated this baby! It's getting intense, I see! (: And let me tell you, I'm already starting on the next chapter! **

**Btw, I'm asking reviewers whether or not if they would like to see this go up a rating or not. **

**Thank you for the reviews! **

**theristia** Silver-Moon-Light94 _God of the Tsukuyomi_ **watergoddesskasey** Riialuvsanime _WiltingInsanity_ **Lavynya** Benji Vengeance


	5. A Waterfall's Rush

**Chapter 5: A Waterfall's Rush**

"It's not right!"

Kakashi stood off to the side of the Hokage's office room, watching his student as the blond brayed and snarled with fury, pacing around much like a caged wild animal. "He's dying! Everyday he's dying a little bit more and soon he'll be dead. We have to get him out of there; it's not right." Naruto thrust a hand through his hair, feeling desperate and furious all at once from what he was forced to do.

"He's not safe, Naruto. We cannot risk him endangering the village."

Naruto sighed and collapsed upon his chair. "I know, I know," he muttered. "What should I do, Kakashi-sensei?"

One corner of the jounin's lip quirked up into a smile. "I haven't been your sensei in a long time, Naruto."

"But I need you to help me. I need you to tell me what to do." Naruto pleaded, turning his big blue eyes to his teacher in urgency as his inner mind battled with one another. "Tell me to leave him in the dungeon, tell me to let him die there; tell me to do something! I want him out of there. I don't want him to suffer any more than he already did when we were children. He…he needs to…." A frustrated groan escaped from him.

He didn't want him to become like Sasuke.

Naruto rubbed the heels of his hands into his eye sockets harshly. It had been exactly two weeks since the last meeting of chaos had gotten in way. Kimimaro was immediately tied up and sent back into the cells of the Hokage's building for further inspection and containment. Like the first few days of Kimimaro's entrapment, he refused to eat and talk, leaving Naruto with very little to plan for his future. And every day, the man was wilting, slowly becoming a skeleton in his cell despite how hard he tried to live to protect the young girl in Naruto's village even for a few days.

The Rokudaime fought for Kimimaro's rights, wanting the man to at least some amount of freedom (even it be small!) to keep him active and well in a way. But the council deemed Kimimaro too dangerous to even attempt such a thing.

"What happens if he dies?" Kakashi mused openly, turning a page of his book as he gazed at Naruto from the top of it.

"That's not right, Kakashi-sensei! It's not why I'm—"

"But does it matter? If he dies?" Kakashi started again, trying to implant an idea within his student's brain (be it dense). "What will happen to Momiji? What will happen to their connection and how will it affect her?"

Just like that, Naruto disappeared in a puff of air.

Kakashi sighed, inserting Icha Icha Paradise into his flak jacket and leaving the office with an all-knowing smile.

Momiji hauled a wooden box of newly arrived flowers into the shop. She panted, wiping her forehead as the unbearable summer heat was affecting her daintiness of a woman. Once a month, the Yamanaka's flower shop would be restocked with flowers and pots needed to keep the business ongoing with the customer's favorite pastimes of bouquets and whatnot.

"Is that the last one?" Momiji asked the men who delivered the fresh daisies and orchids from the southern part of Konohagakure.

"There's a few more," one of the men said, fishing out a small white rag and wiping his face with it. "Jeez, just when you think it can't get any hotter, mother nature defies you once again," he commented.

"You can say that again," Momiji mumbled, hefting another wooden crate of plants to the shop.

It was true. Momiji hadn't remembered it being this hot last year. She wiped the back of her hand across her perspiring forehead. Today she was wearing a baby blue summer sundress her mother had purchased for her yesterday. With white laces bordering the bottom hem, the dress was topped off with a strapless look to match the virgin-like heels matched with the dress. Despite how pretty she looked (as she had been complimented by the many elder civilians of the village), Momiji felt like a sweaty hog, lugging back and forth between the cart and shop.

Finally, when the last crate has made its way to the back of the shop with the rest, Momiji's body felt heavily relieved. She turned to the counter, fiddled with a couple cash and handed it to the workers, thanking them for their work.

After they were gone, Momiji started on carefully removing the plants from the crates and placing them into pots with fresh fertilizer. As demanded by Ino, Momiji was restricted from decorating and intertwining plants in one pot. The incident of the man-eating plant mixed with small poisonous and ferocious atropa belladonna was still fresh upon the blonde's mind.

Her hands heaved a bag of fertilizer, placing it off to the side and started to refill the empty pots. Leaving small holes in the middle, Momiji started to place each delicate and fragile plant into the pot, determined not to rip out the roots with uncaring hands.

The last couple of weeks had been stressful on the young woman.

When word came out about her bloodline, people were either attempting to come closer to the young woman or avoiding her like a contagious plague. Momiji had no idea how a regular shinobi had caught word about her ability, but as soon as he opened his mouth and told the rest of the people within the council room, it spread like wild fire amongst the world.

Constantly, women and men (even children) were coming up to Momiji and begging the girl to awaken their precious family from the dead.

"My wife, please! She's my world!"

"I'll pay you money! I'll give you all I can, just bring back my child!"

"My niece died yesterday."

"Kill my brother! He stole my girlfriend from me! Kill him!"

"I want my baby! Please, please, save my child! She's only five years old!"

Villagers and even some lower level nins were continuously begging for Momiji to use her gift and bring back their loved ones or use her magical wiles to kill someone with a flick of a finger (which was something she cannot do). Ino was frustrated to a point where the villagers had been harming her business and entryway, and dealt with it with a couple of kunais and shurikens bordering the shop from ten feet away. It had helped for a while, but it hadn't helped Momiji with the interminable thoughts of her ability.

"It's wrong!" she cried to her mother. "I cannot use it! I should not have this gift. I should not have the choice to give life or death."

Her mother merely shushed her child, holding her to her chest and smoothing back her hair. "Yes, you are right, Momiji-chan," her mother said affectionately. "Only god has the choice. You are merely his right hand."

"I don't want this, okaasan! I don't!"

"Don't look at it like a curse, Momiji." Hayashi warned. "Or your life will be as miserable as a stray dog."

It was depressing. The frantic craziness of the village had quieted a bit, but there was still a person (or group) here and there that were persistently harassing the girl. Even the hidden ANBUs, ordered by the Hokage to watch Momiji 24/7, dealt with crowd control when the situation became too desperate and wild.

Momiji sighed, feeling as if she aged by a century. She shook her head and started to concentrate on her work, ignoring the heavy loud life decided to place upon her shoulders. Just as she was handing a sickeningly sweet insect-eating plant, the door to the front of the shop slammed open.

Momiji's spine stiffened and she whirled around to meet blue eyes.

"N-naruto-sama!" she greeted in shock.

The Rokudaime was breathing heavily. The hot weather was evident as he was profusely sweating just as equally as she was. "M-momiji," he panted. "I…I need you, oh god, why is it so fucking hot," he cursed, standing up and leaning back as he tried to even out his breathing. "Where the hell is the water spray Ino keeps around here? It's hot!"

Momiji watched as the Hokage rummaged around the counter, peeking through the drawers and cabinets until he found what he wanted with a crow of joy. In that instant, he started spraying himself.

"I need you to come with me," he said while spraying himself with fresh cold water enthusiastically.

Oh, gods. She was not going to do that. The last time Momiji had left the shop unattended (the day of the attack per say), someone had stolen numerous amounts of expensive bouquets Ino herself had attended to. Not only that but the cash register went missing as well, which landed Momiji in a heap of trouble despite her being attacked by a sociopath.

Not only that, but Ino blamed her for forgetting to lock the door.

"I must decline, Hokage-sama," Momiji said, placing the carnivorous plant in the pot. "Ino-san ordered me to stay within the shop during my hours—eep!" She let out a shrill scream when Naruto grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the shop all while throwing a small written paper on the counter.

"I'll leave her a note!" Naruto said, closing the door of the shop and nitpicking it till it locked.

With that, the Hokage heaved a squealing Momiji into his arms and started bounding through the village. All in that while, Momiji was shrieking at the top of her lungs, causing numerous people to glance up and see an orange blur streaking through the sky. She clutched at his neck, feeling her stomach coming up to her throat as they traveled quickly. "Oh, god, I'm going to die," she wailed, holding onto Naruto's neck tightly.

"M-mum—eejee," Naruto choked, tapping her arm.

"I'm going to die!"

The red-faced Hokage ignored the girl's wild grabs and ran faster to the tower in an attempt for her to release her clutches. Once he miraculously reached the tower, he dropped to his feet and threw Momiji's arms away from his neck, wheezing as precious oxygen flowed through his lungs.

Embarrassed, Momiji rolled away from the Hokage and stood on her feet. "Hokage-sama, I'm so sorry!" she replied with a squeak, bowing to him relentlessly. "I'm sorry!"

Jeez, she could've killed the most important man in the world!

Naruto gasped, staggering to his feet as he rubbed the reddening ring around his neck. "No, no," he said, wheezing slightly. "That's okay. Just…just follow me."

Momiji brushed off the lingering dirt from her summer dress and followed Naruto with a heavily blushed face. She crossed her arms against her chest defensively, watching around as kunoichis and shinobis filtered in and out of the building. They regarded Naruto with respect and awe, bowing to the young Hokage as he passed by with a friendly smile and genuine laughs.

They continued through the building, walking down the stairs for quite a while, which started to bring suspicion to Momiji. She rubbed her arms up and down as the chill of the enclosed stairs was producing goosebumps along her limbs. The clacks of her heels brought an ominous feeling to the situation. "Hokage-sama, why…why am I needed?" she questioned.

Naruto didn't answer.

Soon, they reached the final level, the bottom of the stairs. Naruto held Momiji back as she attempted to walk down the long dark corridor. Carefully, he placed his palm upon the wall and flared his chakra, disabling the booby traps. "Come on," he said, and walked.

Momiji quickly followed behind him, feeling a heavy cloud pressing down upon her with every step she took. The silence of the corridor started to get to Momiji, making her heart beat louder and faster as the Rokudaime said nothing about her being her. As soon as they reached the end of the hallway, there was a door guarded by four ANBUs. They all bowed their head at Naruto's presence and allowed him to move further on with Momiji with two following after him.

It wasn't until Momiji glance around her did she realize why she was there.

"H-hokage-sama, no!" she said, and tried to move back into safety until she felt Naruto latch his hand upon hers. Her face grew heavy with a blush as her crush was actually touching her, but it didn't dissuade her from wanting to leave. "Please, no, no!" she cried, pulling back like a skittish colt.

"It's okay, Momiji," Naruto said without turning around to face her. "I just need to see something."

She started crying, pulling ceaselessly at her hand and tried to back away but was only ushered on by the two ANBUs behind her. Momiji walked down the hallway of cells, jumping at the slight movements by the inmates, the traitors, as they screamed and yelled obscenities at her presence. As soon as they reached the last cell, Naruto turned and sighed, blocking Momiji's sight from the inside. When he moved, time froze.

Momiji stood there, watching the man who had attacked her weeks before lying upon his yellow-stained cot much like a dead body at a funeral. She watched him unblinkingly, eyes overflowing with tears as devastation, depression, and utter abandonment filled every crevice in her soul. Momiji hadn't realized that the cell was opening until the sound of it clacked. Momiji moved through quickly, ignoring the astonishment from the three behind her as she fell to her knees in front of the skeletal body. And in less than a second, a millisecond, she started bawling in pure desolation.

She wailed in the cell, crying as if she had lost a part of herself to the horrors of this very room. Without even thinking, Momiji picked up her hands and attempted to place them upon Kimimaro's depraved body but was quickly restrained by the ANBUs.

"No! No!" she screamed, thrashing her arms to try and loosen their hold. "No, please! Oh, god, what did you do to him? What did you do?" she yelled hoarsely.

"Let her go," Naruto demanded, watching the scene from the corner of the room with scrutinizing eyes.

"Hokage-sama!" One of them said. But he relented when his Hokage said nothing, placing a hand upon the other ANBU to release the girl's wiggling form and allowed her to touch the enemy of Konohagakure.

Momiji flew to the body, sitting on the edge of the cot as she petted his scarred and malnutrition body with delicate hands.

"I'm sorry," the body said.

"Why?" Momiji asked; hiccupping as tears continuously ran down her face.

"I'm supposed to protect you."

Kimimaro watched the young woman above him with a tiredness that only people upon their deathbed can contain. He sighed, feeling her place her head upon his disgustingly dirty chest and sobbed. Kimimaro felt ashamed of himself. There was nothing more he wanted than for the girl to be safe and secure, but at the moment, through his bond with her, Kimimaro can feel the agony wracking through her small body. He felt her lace their hands together and for once throughout his desertion did he feel contentment flowing through him. Similar to any pet, he preened under her attention despite the position not being the best of what it was. "M…" he started. "M…mom-iji," he said.

Momiji sobbed, clutching at him. As much as she wanted to scream and yell at the people behind her, she didn't. She couldn't. Her bones were stiffening, body trembling, and mind quaking with unfamiliar emotions roiling through her. Just as she was completely normal (albeit nervous and scared), suddenly she was washed with another's despair and sadness.

It was then did she realize that they were truly connected.

"What's going on here?" Koharu asked, slamming her walking stick on the stone ground as she watched the scene. "Why is it that word of the girl has come to me and why is she in this room?"

Naruto swirled around and faced two angry elders along with additional ANBUs. He narrowed his eyes at them, pointing to the sobbing girl and the weak man. "See this? See this?" he yelled, snarling at them. "This is what happens when you keep them apart! He starts to deteriorate. He is dying, and its affect Momiji! This torture you have afflicted him with is affecting her and wounding her! She has a responsibility to his well-being as he does to her. They are connected!"

Homura watched the young woman starting to breathe too quickly. "What's going on?" he asked, assessing the situation with careful eyes. "Why is she breathing like that?"

Naruto turned around and cursed.

The young woman hadn't realized she was gasping for breath till she saw colorful spots assaulting her vision. Her heart was beating madly and lungs screaming for oxygen, but no matter how deep or how fast she was breathing, she was getting enough to fulfill their claims. Slowly, she looked away from Kimimaro's turquoise eyes and felt herself falling away from him.

"Shit!" Naruto cursed, jumping forward and catching Momiji in time before she collapsed on the floor. "Get a medic!"

"Fool!" Homura yelled, pointing down the hallway. "Take her out of here! If more people come inside, the prisoners might use it as an escape!"

The blond Hokage growled at the elder but moved past him.

"Take them both to the hospital," Koharu demanded, watching the corpse on the bed fighting to move and protect his ward. "He shall be restricted and sealed until we are positive he won't harm anyone." Her old eyes turned to see Naruto watching her with a hard expression. "And if he does, Uzumaki-san, it will all upon your shoulders, and it will ultimately question the people why we have chosen a dunce as our Hokage."

"He won't." Naruto simply said before turning out.

Within less than five hours, both unconscious beings were confined in a hospital room highly guarded by ANBUs inside and out. The supreme nins stood like a statue, watching every single movement with the eyes of a hawk as the door opened and a nurse came in.

Sakura ignored the stationed ANBUs and moved towards the unconscious male. She held a glowing hand throughout his body to assess his vitals. A small frowned played upon her face and she concentrated on his liver, healing it from the neglect it had gone through before moving away from it. Satisfied with it, she picked up the clipboard from the end of the bed and filled it out before moving to the unconscious female who appeared not to be out at all.

"How is he?" Momiji asked.

"He's doing better," Sakura merely said.

"That's good," she replied, her eyes closing heavily. Her IV'd hand came up to her chest and gently rubbed at it, catching Sakura's attention quickly.

"Does your chest hurt?" Sakura asked, moving Momiji's hand away and started to evaluate her chest with a glowing hand.

"It…it feels funny," the girl only provided. "It feels like a pull…."

Sensing nothing wrong, Sakura pulled away and frowned, her arms crossed over her chest. The pink-haired kunoichi had heard of Hayashi Momiji. It wasn't exactly a secret despite how hard Naruto tried to cover her strange and horrid ability. She turned to look at the fallen Kimimaro and turned to Momiji once again, contemplating whether or not if the chest pulling sensation was because of their connection. Saying nothing, Sakura moved to the clipboard hanging off of Momiji's gurney and filled it out. "You suffered from a rather severe panic attack, which had resulted in you meeting Kaguya," Sakura said. "You are free to leave whenever you want."

"The Hokage wants her to stay until he's able to leave his office for the day," one of the ANBUs said.

Sakura nodded. "Once you've left, I want you to come for an evaluation. The both of you," Sakura said eyeing to the unconscious male. "I will tell him as soon as he wakes as well. I advise you to not strain yourself for anything. Drink lots of water and keep away from the sun." With those words, Sakura parted.

Momiji laid there for a while, trying to sleep but was unable to find such peace. She turned her head to Kimimaro and studied him.

The dungeon-like cell had taken a toll upon his body. His skin looked leathery, very cracked like a reptilian's. Around his eyes, the creases darkened drastically against the light of his pallid facial skin. His stringy hair was matted and beyond repairable in hopes to salvage the damage torture has done to him. The original drab he had been wearing wasn't upon his body; it was a traitor's jail clothes, the tacky orange. It was saturated in urine and feces, assaulting her olfactory senses. Her nose pinched at the smell, but her ears pained at the sound of his wheezing lungs.

Her head turned the other way, eyes clenching tight as she fought with herself to not think about him.

There was no explanation of why she had reacted the way she did upon seeing his battered body inside that cell. The only thing Momiji truly remembered was the collapse of her inner self.

It was as if nothing matter other than him.

He was the only thing sufficient and significant in her life.

Nothing more was necessary than him, nothing.

It terrified her. Momiji who was a stranger to these feelings felt uncomfortable and almost alien. It was almost as if she was submerged within his ocean of depression, suffocating with no sense of hope until of her arrival. It brought Momiji's attention to the bond between the two of them, tugging at it desperately for her attention to a point where it threatened her sanity.

Fully aware of the connection between the two, Momiji could only agree silently that she had somehow awakened him from the other world and into this one. She wasn't sure when it had happened and how, but all she can be positive about is her association to it.

She cleared her throat and struggled to rise. The ANBU within the room didn't move as they watched her fighting against the flat gurney.

"Dammit," she cursed, rolling from side to side to try and lift herself.

The two ANBUs glanced at each other questioningly. One of them stepped forward and spoke. "Do you require any assistance?"

"That would be nice," Momiji spat, feeling irritated at the feeling of an upside down tortoise. She paused in her rocking movement, allowing the ANBU to pick her up by her pits and bring her up. A low hiss escaped from her gritted teeth as her still sensitive ribs groaned. "Thanks," she told the ANBU as he stepped away. "Is there water or anything?"

Wordlessly, he strode over to a wooden counter and poured her a cup from the glass pitcher. He did it again two times as the girl swallowed it like a dehydrated camel.

"Thanks," she said again. Momiji looked at the IV needle poking into the back of her hand and frowned at it. Ignoring the thing, she scooted back until her back was leaning back against the metal rails of the gurney. She glanced at Kimimaro and stared at him.

The insistent thought of what was going to happen now played upon her mind like an instrument. It traveled here and there, bothering her until she was forced to pay it attention. There was no doubt everything was going to change.

Nothing was going to be the same.

She hadn't realized that during the midst of her contemplation upon the unconscious boy, the Rokudaime had entered the room and was sitting next to her bed.

"Momiji,"

"Aaaahhh!" she screeched, scrabbling backwards in shock until she realized who it was. Her face bled with the intense color of red. "H-hokage-sama," she squeaked, humiliated that she was caught off guard not only in front of the Hokage, but the two unfaced ANBUs.

Naruto said nothing. He glanced behind his shoulder at Kimimaro for a good fifteen seconds before turning back to the questioning girl. "Momiji," he started slowly.

Feeling the heaviness of dread filling her bones, Momiji blinked owlishly. "H-hai?"

"He is harmless."

Her expression fell and she narrowed her eyes at the Hokage. "I highly doubt that."

Naruto stood from his chair. He turned to the unconscious male and delicately placed two fingers upon the forehead. "Upon admission into the hospital, I had a seal placed upon Kimimaro with the help of Hinata. It locks down all his chakra, leaving him defenseless if he decides to fight against us."

"That doesn't mean he's defenseless," Momiji said, shaking her head. "He has other ways to fight, much like any other shinobi depleted of chakra."

That was when Naruto decided to wing it.

"That is one of the reasons why we are going to assign people to keep watch of him to make sure he doesn't terrorize the villagers and yourself." He raised his hand, pausing Momiji's confused question. "Twenty-four hours in a day, Kimimaro will be surveillance by my top notch shinobis. Once every three days, he will be required to attend two mandatory meetings with a specialist. One is to talk about himself and his mental health, the other is to converse about the connection and bond between you, which you will also have to attend." Once again, he stopped Momiji from talking. "I will have someone assigned to you to prevent anything dangerous from happening while you're working at the flower shop and whatnot. Kimimaro will be prevented from entering certain areas of the village, which will not be applied to you—"

"Hokage-sama!"

"You and your mom are safe. I have placed him at a different area of the village for stay, which is under severe watch—"

"Naruto-sama!"

"There is nothing to be worried about. Should there be an incident of him attacking anyone, I will be notified immediately and he will be placed back in the cell with visits from you from time to time. Therefore, a report at the end of the day will be required from you and given to your assigned ANBU—"

"Wait!" Momiji shrieked. "Why are you talking about him as if he's leaving here?"

Naruto watched her seriously. "He is. He is going to be with you."

At this, she felt her heart tear in half. Her purple eyes wildly glanced at the unconscious male to see him not unconscious at all; and he was looking at her with weak pitiful eyes. She ripped her attention away from and started to cry. "Why? Why? You're supposed to be on my side! You're supposed to protect me!"

"I am!" Naruto snapped, standing to a point where he was looming over her like a scolding parent. "Why do you think you fainted? Why did you think you experienced a severe panic attack? The longer we keep you two parted, the more you two suffer." He scoffed and shook his head. "I will not have you suffer any long, Momiji."

Momiji cried, placing her face into her hands. "I'm already and still suffering, Naruto-sama. People know of my ability. Proof is over there!" She pointed at Kimimaro angrily. "I can't run away from it! I'm facing it every day and nothing can be done about it."

"But it can," Naruto cajoled her, placing a hand upon her trembling shoulder. "We are helping you from your suffering."

Momiji hiccupped, sniffling as she looked up at her Hokage with watery eyes. "What is the decision from the daimyos?"

At this, Naruto removed his hand and turned away from her. "It is still in discussion."

"Why is it taking so long?" Momiji was ignorant to his slowly clenching fist.

Clearing his throat and calming himself, Naruto turned and smiled at Momiji comfortingly. "The daimyos and the kages are required to join together at the Kage Summit during this particular and sensitive topic, which takes time for everyone to schedule. Once that's done, everybody must come up with one compromise. If a compromise hasn't been reached, then the situation continues on until a plan is effective and agreed by all party members." Naruto sat at the edge of Momiji's gurney. "I'm not going to lie to you, Momiji, but this is going to take a while. When it finally comes to a conclusion, you'll be given notice as soon as possible."

Momiji sighed in either relief or suspended trepidation, she didn't know.

**Wooo! That was an intense chapter! :D Hopefully I can have another one out soon!**

**Glad you're enjoying the story so far! Thank you for the reviews! C:**

**Astrea Onigami** Prevaricator _Silver-Moon-Light94_ **GrimmyGrimm666** Radioactive-Pingu

**Bilgen – **I'm glad you do!


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